i wanted to come to the city and start my acting career. >> growing up in a middle class family actress jennifer esposito caught everyone's attention with television shows like spin city to award winning films like "crash." and her most recent work on cbs's "blue blood." while her hollywood star was rising she haved suffering from an illness that was slowly debilitating her. >> when did you realize or your family realize that something was wrong? >> when i was a teenager i had problems with getting colds and infections, sinus infections all of the time. so much so that i was hospitalized with monday no. >> she would suffer and as a family we would say, okay, she is sick again. >> susan is jennifer's older sister. >> at a young age she was suffering with stomach issues. she had mood swings, she had anxiety. no answers. >> how many tests? how many doctors visits are we talking about? hundreds? thousands? >> i couldn't guess the amount between colonoscopies and enemas. >> did it take a toll on you and your family? >> yes. we didn't have an understanding of it because none of the doctors sh